"Insightful and utterly authentic... This is an important book." - New York Times Book Review

"Comparisons with Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar seem inevitable... The overall message that depression is not shameful, and that sufferers are not freaks of nature, is beautifully handled." - Bookmunch

"It's terrific: funny, incisive, disarming." - New York Magazine

"The wise, witty narrator and sensitive handling of a hot topic should win over older teens--and their parents." - People Magazine

"Funny... [Vizzini] supplies personal insights and a clever, self-deprecating tone that make the book an entertaining read." - The Washington Post

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Hardcover

April 1, 2006

"The book is TERRIFIC – I just loved it and will recommend it all over the place to teen and adult readers. You have a unique ability to convey deep and complicated feeling through simple, funny and sweet prose." -- Rachel Cohn, author of Gingerbread, Shrimp, The Steps, and Two Steps Forward

"I wanted to tell you how much I liked It's Kind of a Funny Story. Your descriptions of depression are so accurate and heartbreaking. One of my favorite metaphors was on the first page when you describe trying to talk like words coming out in chunks from a crushed-ice dispenser. So true." -- Ariel Schrag, creator of the graphic novels Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise

It's Kind of a Funny Story is my third book. It's the story of Craig Gilner, a kid in high school who gets freaked out, wants to kill himself, and checks into the psych hospital. The book details the week he spends there and how he gets his life... well, not together. But alive.

It's based, not too loosely, on my own experience on the good ol' adult psychiatric floor of Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, which I entered when I wanted to kill myself in November 2004. Yay! I've managed to stay out since then, although I've wanted to go back many a time.

There is a Myspace for the book at myspace.com/ikoafs. Press for the book is posted as it appears right here.

Be More Chill - US Paperback

September 14, 2005

[click cover for hi-res image]

Be More Chill is the story of a guy who gets a pill that makes him cool. The pill is called a "squip"--it's actually a quantum computer that lives in your brain and gives you real-time social advice. The kid is named Jeremy Heere. And that's about what you need to know.

For more about the squip itself and the campaign that went along with it, watch the squip video (warning--it may take a while to load).

Be More Chill - US Hardcover

June 1, 2004

"I wish I'd had a squip when I was a teenager. Actually, I wish I had one now. You know what? Forget the squip. Reading this hilarious book is what will make you cool."
-- Neal Pollack

"Ned Vizzini writes about teenagers without the Saved by the Bell, 'boy I sure love pizza' clichés. Be More Chill is a funny, perceptive, and surprisingly well-written read for all ages."
-- Robert Lanham, author, The Hipster Handbook

"I thought Be More Chill was very funny, well observed and well written. Very clever story, beautifully executed - definitely one to take notice of, and one of the cleverest plots I've come across in a long time."
-- Melvin Burgess, author, Smack

"Authentic, refreshingly honest and hilarious. You have perfectly captured the angst-filled, sex-obsessed thoughts of today's teens. Also, it is an incredibly original plot."
-- Anne Rouyer, the New York Public Library

"As a two-time survivor of high school (once as a student and once as a teacher), I know how hard it is to write about adolescence. But Ned Vizzini gets it right-- the lingo, the rigid caste system, the minutiae of teen courtship rituals. Be More Chill shows that high school can be a hero's journey, a treacherous march through minefields of bullies, drugs, and unfairly complicated bra straps. A smart, funny book that shies away from sentimentality and cliché, Be More Chill handles powerful themes with a light touch."
-- David Benioff, author, The 25th Hour

"Be More Chill is a sharp social commentary disguised as a high school sex (or no sex, in our hero's case) comedy. I was thoroughly entertained by Vizzini's clever take on the insanity (and inanity) of contemporary teendom."
-- Megan McCafferty, author, Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings